The Dynasty Warriors franchise has been branching out quite a bit. Persona recently found a lot of success by blending its RPG character progression with Dynasty Warriors' hack-and-slash action in Persona 5 Strikers. More notably though, Nintendo has been experimenting with Dynasty Warriors crossovers. Aside from the Hyrule Warriors family of games, Nintendo has been dabbling in Fire Emblem Warriors games. It just announced Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, a successor to 2017's Fire Emblem Warriors that focuses on the world of Fire Emblem: Three Houses - the Switch installation that found major success upon release in 2019.
So far, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes looks compelling; it will tell an alternate version of Three Houses' story where Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude are potentially forced to work together for some reason, rather than warring with one another. Even though details about the game aren't clear yet, Three Hopes already looks ripe for DLC. Nintendo and Omega Force have arranged some compelling DLC for both its Hyrule Warriors games so far, providing more missions and characters for fans to enjoy. The rich lore of Fire Emblem: Three Houses and the rest of the franchise could prompt another strong line of DLC for Three Hopes.
Following Hyrule Warriors' Lead
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity had an excellent DLC lineup because it simultaneously made great use of Breath of the Wild's lore and added more mechanical depth. Not only did the DLC introduce new weapons for Link and Zelda, but a battle-worn Guardian became playable, as well as the two-person team of Purah and Robbie. Aside from playable characters, the DLC added new missions for players to complete, an additional Apocalyptic difficulty, and new enemies like a bomb-hurling Moblin and Giant Chuchus. All in all, Age of Calamity's DLC pack improves the game from all angles.
Ideally, Three Hopes will get a line of DLC that's similarly creative. The Officers Academy in Fire Emblem: Three Houses is full of supporting characters. Odds are they won't all be playable in the base version of Three Hopes, so a DLC pack could add fan-favorite characters who don't make it. These packs could also add any number of new weapons, replicating how Fire Emblem characters' skills are determined by the player's choices. Three Houses' story and side missions could also all provide additional missions for Three Hopes, like branching paths for Three Hopes' story that imitate Three Houses' narrative more closely.
Honoring Fire Emblem's History and Growth
Omega Force and Nintendo don't have to stop at Three Hopes-inspired content. DLC could instead look to previous Fire Emblem games for inspiration, crossing over with other titles in the spirit of the original Fire Emblem Warriors, even if there's no story content related to other games. Previous Fire Emblem stars like Marth, Roy, and Ike could make great DLC characters for Three Hopes, and Omega Force could develop additional enemies and battlefields based on some of Fire Emblem's most memorable missions.
Regardless of what form Three Hopes' DLC takes, the game deserves ambitious expansions. Fire Emblem: Three Houses is the best-selling Fire Emblem game to date, which means Three Hopes has the opportunity to serve as a celebration of the franchise's growth. Three Hopes shouldn't just be an alternate telling of its source material's story; it should be a testament to the massive success of Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Three Hopes is only a few months away, so if Omega Force and Nintendo have DLC plans, fans may know about them by the end of 2022. Hopefully the game's DLC live up to Age of Calamity's standard.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes releases June 24, 2022 for Nintendo Switch.
